5%0 ^^ 

s^jory or Joseph 

For Young People 





-z <:: 



Class _"B 

Book iZL^&5 

Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Story of Joseph 



The Story of Joseph 

For Young People 



ISABELLA WEBB PARKS 



lb 



Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham 
New York: Eaton and Mains 



c^^ 



Copyright) igoj., 

by 

Jennings & Graham 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

DEC t 1904 

Copyright fcntry 

CUSS. ^ XXC* Not 



COPY B. 



Contents 

His Childhood, 9 

Joseph Sold by His Brethren, - 17 

A Slave and in Prison, - - - 25 

Pharaoh's Dreams, - - - 35 

Joseph, Ruler of the Land of Egypt, - 43 

Joseph Tests His Brothers, - - 54 

He Makes Himself Known to His 

Brothers, 64 



The Story of Joseph 



His Childhood 

In our time there is nothing that boys, 
or girls either for that matter, like better 
than to camp out. If they can spend a few 
weeks in the summer living in a tent in 
the woods or near a lake or river, they are 
happier than if they were in a palace. But 
the boy whom this story is about lived in 
a tent all of the time. Rather, he staid in 
one when he had to have shelter. Without 
doubt he lived out of doors most of the 
time, just as the boys and girls of the pres- 
ent do when they go camping. 

He had eleven brothers. Ten of them 
were only half brothers. The father of all 
these boys was Jacob; but there were four 
different mothers. Leah was the mother 
of the four oldest — Reuben, Simeon, Levi, 
and Judah, and also of the ninth and tenth — 
Issachar and Zebulon; Bilhah was the 

9 



io The Story of Joseph 



mother of Dan and Naphthali; Zilpah of 
Gad and Asher; and Rachel, Leah's sister, 
was the mother of the two youngest boys, 
Joseph and Benjamin. 

The chief business of people at that time 
in Palestine was raising cattle and sheep. 
Jacob was a very rich man, and had large 
flocks. The land was not fenced off, and 
did not belong to different people as at 
present. Every man was free to keep his 
flocks wherever he chose, and every one 
moved around as he needed to find pas- 
ture and water for his flocks. As the sons 
of a family grew up, they did not leave their 
home and go into business for themselves. 
They lived in tents near their father, took 
care of his flocks, shared in all that he had, 
and were ruled by him just as when they 
were children. 

Boys of to-day may think that this was 
a fine way to live, a sort of eternal picnic, 
and there were so many boys in Jacob's fam- 
ily that they might have had good times 
together, but they spoiled all their pleasure 
by quarreling. Own brothers and sisters 



The Story of Joseph 1 1 

often quarrel; but in Jacob's family there 
was much more quarreling and ill-feeling 
than in most families, because of the chil- 
dren's having different mothers. The moth- 
ers were jealous of each other, and each 
mother was afraid that her children would 
not have as much and be as well treated as 
some of the other children. To make mat- 
ers worse, Jacob loved the beautiful Rachel 
very dearly, and she was the only one of his 
wives that he seemed to have much affection 
for. He therefore loved her children better 
than the other children, and, as she died 
when Benjamin was born, he had a more 
tender feeling for her two boys than he 
would otherwise have had. He was espe- 
cially fond of Joseph. We should have ex- 
pected that Benjamin would have been his 
favorite, because he was the youngest. But 
when w r e read the story of Joseph, we under- 
stand why Jacob loved him so much. It was 
not alone because he was Rachel's son, and 
one of the youngest of his children, for 
Benjamin, as we have already said, was 
younger than he. It was because of his 



12 The Story of Joseph 

character. We see from his actions, from 
the way in which he won friends wherever 
he went and in whatever position he was 
placed, that Joseph was a very loving boy ; 
that he had a sunny, happy disposition ; that 
he was unselfish and truthful. It is very 
plain, too, that the stories which Jacob must 
have told many times to his children of 
God's appearances and words to their an- 
cestors, Abraham and Isaac, and to Jacob 
himself had made a deep impression upon 
Joseph, very different from that which they 
made upon his older brothers. He thought 
these stories over and over. He believed 
fully in the promises that his people were 
some day to become a great nation, the 
chosen nation of God, and he tried to live 
as one ought to live who belonged to such 
a people. He sought to know God and to 
know His will, and he learned, as every one 
does who tries to know and obey God, to 
love and trust Him. 

The older brothers were selfish and cruel 
and quarrelsome. They may have be- 
lieved that God was going to make of them 



The Story of Joseph 1 3 

a great nation, but all they cared about it 
was for their own selfish purposes. They 
did not think of the work that God wanted 
His chosen people to do. They wanted to 
keep His favor just as they would of a 
powerful king ; but they did not understand 
that right living pleased Him more than 
sacrifices and offerings. 

Joseph was often shocked at the wicked 
things his brothers did when by themselves, 
and sometimes told his father of them. His 
brothers were already very jealous of him, 
because their father loved him so much more 
than he did them, and because bad people 
always hate good people. It made them 
very angry, therefore, to have Joseph report 
them to their father, and they hated him 
all the worse for it. At last Jacob, in his 
fondness, made Joseph a beautiful coat. It 
was of bright colors and rich material. It 
would naturally have belonged to the old- 
est, the one who, according to the customs 
of the time, should be head of the family or 
tribe when the father died. It therefore 
made them very angry that such a coat 



14 The Story of Joseph 

should be given to Joseph. So bitter were 
their hatred and jealousy that they could 
not after this speak a pleasant word to him. 
Soon after his father gave him this coat 
Joseph had a strange dream, which he told 
to his father and his brothers. He dreamed 
that he and his brothers were binding 
sheaves of grain in the field together, and 
that their sheaves all bowed down to his. 
In those days people believed that future 
events were often told in dreams, and the 
meaning of this dream was so plain that 
any one could understand it. The brothers 
were very angry, and said to him, "Do you 
think you are going to rule over us ?" They 
did n't believe that Joseph had really had 
such a dream. They thought he had made 
it up, and told it to make his father believe 
that God wanted Joseph appointed head of 
the tribe when Jacob died. Jacob might 
have been ready to believe such a thing, be- 
cause he himself, in accordance with a reve- 
lation from God, had been appointed head of 
the family instead of his older brother, Esau. 
So, while it was an unusual thing, Jacob's 



The Story of Joseph 15 

own experience might lead him to do the 
same thing with Joseph, if he could find any 
excuse for it. Not only did he love Joseph 
more than the others, but he also knew that 
in character Joseph was much more fit to be 
the leader of the people of God. 

Very soon Joseph had another dream 
stranger than the first, and, boylike, he 
told that too. It shows his frank and trust- 
ful nature that he ventured to tell it to his 
brothers after the way in which they had re- 
ceived the first dream. If he had really, as 
his brothers thought, been plotting to be 
made head of the tribe, he would have told 
it secretly to his father, and would not have 
let them know anything about it. It seemed 
to him a very strange dream, one that he 
could not understand, and he told it just 
as he would tell any other strange thing. 
We show what we are by what we think of 
other people. Joseph would not have done 
his brothers any harm, so he never thought 
of their doing him harm. They suspected 
him of deceiving his father and plotting to 
be made head of the tribe, because they knew 



1 6 The Story of Joseph 

that in his place any one of them would have 
done so. His second dream was that the 
sun and moon and eleven stars did homage 
to him. This time even his father reproved 
him, and asked him if it could really be that 
he was to rule over his father and his 
mother. It was possible that he should rule 
over his brothers, though very improbable, 
for he was next to the youngest of twelve 
brothers ; but that he should ever rule over 
his father and his mother was too foolish to 
be spoken of. Of course, the brothers were 
more angry than ever, if that was possible, 
and hated him worse than before. But his 
father knew that Joseph had not made up 
the dreams, and, though he would not en- 
courage him in supposing that such things 
could ever happen, he thought about the 
strange dreams a great deal, and wondered 
what they could mean. 



Joseph Sold by His Brethren 

Jacob was now an old man, and as he had 
so many grown sons they took all the care 
of the flocks and herds. He no longer 
moved about, therefore, but remained in one 
place. Not long after Joseph had told his 
dreams, the ten older sons drove the flocks 
away to find pasture for them. They went 
a long way off, and were gone a long time 
without sending any word home. After 
some time Jacob became anxious to know 
how they and the flocks were getting along. 
He therefore told Joseph to go and find 
them, and bring him back word. Joseph 
started out, but wandered a long time over 
the country without finding any trace of his 
brothers. At last he met a man who told 
him that he had heard the brothers say they 
were going to a place called Dothan. Joseph 
went to Dothan, and, while he was still a 

2 17 



1 8 The Story of Joseph 

long way off, his brothers saw him coming. 
One of them said: "There comes that 
dreamer. Let 's kill him. We are off where 
no one will ever know that we did it. Then 
we will see what will become of his dreams/' 
The ten brothers took up this plan with 
wicked delight, all except Reuben. He 
did n't want to do it, and begged his brothers 
not to do such a wicked thing. He re- 
minded them that their father was an old 
man who had seen a great deal of trouble, 
and that he was so bound up in Joseph that 
it would break his heart if anything hap- 
pened to him; that in spite of his father's 
partiality there was no danger that Joseph 
ever could be head of the tribe. He spoke 
of Joseph's pleasant temper and kind ways, 
told them it might not be so easy, as they 
thought, to make their father think that 
Joseph had been killed by accident, and 
urged them to think how their father would 
feel towards them if he ever should find out 
that they had killed their brother. But all 
that he could say did no good, and when 
Reuben found he could not persuade his 



The Story of Joseph 19 

brothers he thought he would save Joseph 
by a trick. So he said: "Well, if you are 
determined to kill him, let us throw him into 
this empty cistern and leave him here to 
die. That will be better than killing him 
with our own hands." The brothers agreed 
to this. Probably it delighted their cruel 
hearts to think of his dying a lingering, 
painful death by starvation and thirst. They 
liked to think of his having days in which 
to think of how he was punished for daring 
to tell such dreams. 

When Joseph came up with a pleasant 
greeting they looked at him with scowls 
of hatred, and answered him with fierce 
and exulting taunts. They seized him, 
tore off his beautiful coat, and, in spite 
of his struggles and his cries for mercy, 
threw him into the empty cistern, and put 
back the heavy stone which covered it. Not 
long after this all of the brothers except 
Reuben were sitting near the same place 
eating their dinner. Reuben had gone away, 
perhaps to hunt up some of the flock that 
were straying off. The place where the 



20 The Story of Joseph 

brothers were was beside a great road which 
went down into Egypt. At this time Egypt 
was a very rich and powerful country, and 
merchants from all the countries around 
went there with goods of every kind. They 
traveled in what were called caravans, many 
of them together, on camels and asses. This 
road was one of the most traveled in the 
world, for it led from countries in which 
were many valuable products. As the 
brothers were eating their dinner they saw 
one of these caravans coming, and one of 
them thought that here was a fine chance 
to get safely rid of Joseph and at the same 
time get some money. So he said: "Here 
come some traders on their way to Egypt. 
Let us sell Joseph to them for a slave. Then 
we shall be rid of him, and have some 
money, too." I think also that this one of 
the brothers was beginning to feel a little 
uncomfortable as he thought of leaving 
Joseph there to starve to death. Without 
doubt they could hear his cries and plead- 
ings, and this brother's conscience began to 
tell him that all his life he would hear those 



The Story of Joseph 2 1 

cries, would never be able to quiet them. 
For when he suggested this plan he said, 
"After all, he is our brother." Perhaps the 
other brothers, too, had begun to feel the 
same way, and were glad of a way to get rid 
of Joseph without killing him. At any rate, 
all of them seemed to think it a fine plan. 
So when the traders came along, the 
brothers drew Joseph out of the cistern, 
and began to bargain with the traders for 
him. Joseph was now in the deepest dis- 
tress. In these days of railroads and tele- 
graph, of daily newspapers and mail carried 
all over the world every day, Egypt does not 
seem far from Palestine. But it was a very 
different matter in Joseph's time. He knew 
that if he was sold into Egypt there was 
very little chance of his ever seeing his 
father again. Slavery is a dreadful thing 
any time and anywhere for any one ; but to 
this boy, used to the free life of a shepherd, 
the petted son of a rich man and belonging 
to a powerful family, the thought of being 
a slave was almost unendurable. He there- 
fore wept and begged. He tried in every 



22 The Story of Joseph 

way to soften the hard hearts of his brothers, 
but all in vain. They hated Joseph more 
than they loved their father. The traders 
were used to seeing slaves weep and plead 
when they were dragged away from their 
homes, so Joseph's distress was nothing to 
them. When they had made their bargain, 
they chained him up and drove him off. 
Reuben, who knew nothing of this, was 
watching his chance to go to the cistern when 
the other brothers were away and let Joseph 
out. It was not long after this that he saw 
his chance. He hurried to the cistern, think- 
ing with pleasure how surprised and happy 
Joseph would be when he let him out. But 
when he uncovered the cistern Joseph was 
gone. Reuben was in great distress. He did 
not at first think that his brothers had taken 
Joseph out, and he therefore went to them 
and said, "J ose pli is gone, and what shall I 
say to my father?" Of course, they knew 
from this that Reuben had meant to let 
Joseph out, and they must have told him 
what they had done with him. What they 
said to him to prevent his telling their father 



The Story of Joseph 23 

we do not know. Very likely they threat- 
ened to kill him. Probably, too, while Reu- 
ben did not want to kill Joseph, and while 
he cared more for his father than the others 
did, he was not really so very much better 
than they. He, too, was jealous of Joseph 
and glad to have him out of the way, so 
long as he himself did not have to do any- 
thing to get him out of the way. Then, too, 
he knew it would be very difficult, almost 
impossible, for his father to get Joseph back, 
even if he knew where he was. He had no 
one to send to hunt him up but his sons, and 
he surely could n't trust them. Reuben 
knew, too, what terrible trouble it would 
make in the family if his father should know 
what had happened. So he was easily per- 
suaded not to tell. But they must make 
up some story to tell their father when he 
asked for Joseph. To be sure, they might 
have told him that they had seen nothing of 
Joseph, but for many reasons they thought 
it better to make their father believe at once 
that Joseph was dead. So they killed a kid, 
tore Joseph's beautiful coat in many places, 



24 The Story of Joseph 

and dipped it in the blood of the kid. We 
can imagine with what fierce delight they 
tore the hated coat and thought that Joseph 
would never offend them again by wear- 
ing it. 

When the brothers went home, Jacob, see- 
ing that Joseph was not with them, asked 
for him with much anxiety. The brothers 
looked at one another, as if they knew some- 
thing that troubled them, something they 
did not like to tell, and said that they had 
seen nothing of Joseph. "Not seen him," 
cried Jacob in distress, "why, I sent him 
to find you many days ago." Then with 
much pretended hesitation and anxiety they 
brought out the coat and said : "On our way 
home we found this coat. We were afraid 
it was Joseph's, but were not sure, and we 
brought it home." Jacob, of course, knew 
the coat the moment he saw it, and he cried 
out: "It is Joseph's coat! Some evil beast 
hath devoured him! Joseph without doubt 
is torn to pieces." Then he wept and 
mourned, and all of his sons and daughters 
tried to comfort him. 



A Slave and in Prison 

Joseph was taken by the traders who had 
bought him of his brothers into Egypt. His 
beauty, his youth, and his generally pleasing 
appearance made him a valuable slave, and 
Potiphar, a high officer of Pharaoh's, bought 
him. Now it is that Joseph's true and noble 
character begins to show itself. It would 
have been very easy and very natural to give 
way to grief and despair. Joseph was only 
seventeen years old. He had never been 
away from his father before. He had al- 
ways been petted and indulged. He had 
been used to a life of perfect freedom. 
Many boys would have sulked and fretted. 
They would have done only as much work 
as they found they must do to escape pun- 
ishment, and they would have done what 
little they did as poorly as they dared. But 
Joseph, instead of thus making the worst of 

25 



26 The Story of Joseph 

a very bad matter, began at once to make 
the best of it. He tried in every way to 
please his master. He was cheerful and re- 
spectful. He made great effort to learn the 
language as quickly as possible. He gave 
careful attention to his master's directions; 
tried to find out just how his master wanted 
things done, and then did them in that way 
whether his master was at hand to see him 
or not. His master very soon came to think 
a great deal of his bright, intelligent young 
servant, who learned so quickly and was so 
faithful and trustworthy ; so, instead of mak- 
ing him a drudge, he put him in charge of 
all the work of his place. And not only did 
he leave to him entirely the oversight of the 
work, he also trusted him to buy whatever 
was necessary for the place. So, though a 
slave, Joseph's lot was not a hard one after 
all. But his position was one of great re- 
sponsibility. It was one which demanded 
judgment and care. He had to learn how to 
use money wisely, and, what was more, he 
had to learn how to manage men. He could 
hardly have been placed in a position where 



The Story of Joseph 27 

he would have better training for the work 
which he was called upon to do later in 
his life. 

But now an experience was to come which 
would put to the hardest possible test Jo- 
seph's character and his faith in God. His 
very goodness brought him into trouble. 
His master's wife was a bad woman. She 
fell in love with the handsome, attractive 
Hebrew boy, and tried to get him to be false 
to his master by becoming her lover. This 
Joseph steadily refused to do. At last, one 
day when she was in the house alone Joseph 
came in to see about his work. She took 
hold of his loose outer garment, and insisted 
that he should do her bidding. To get away 
from her he slipped out of the garment and 
fled. She was now very angry, and was de- 
termined to punish Joseph for his disregard 
of her. So she laid the garment by, called 
in the other servants, showed it to them, and 
told them that Joseph came in where she 
was and attacked her; that she struggled 
and screamed for help, and that he was 
frightened and left his garment in her hand 



28 The Story of Joseph 

and fled. When her husband came home at 
night she told him the same story. He 
threw Joseph into a dungeon. It was natu- 
ral that Potiphar should be very angry with 
Joseph. The dreadful deed he was accused 
of was bad enough in itself, but it was made 
a great deal worse by the fact that Potiphar 
had trusted him so fully. It seems strange, 
therefore, that Potiphar did not have him 
put to death at once. We can not help sus- 
pecting that Potiphar did not fully believe 
his wife's story. After having known Jo- 
seph, it was not easy to believe himself so 
mistaken. Then, it is very probable that he 
must have known that his wife was not fully 
trustworthy. But however this may have 
been, there was no proof either way, and 
Potiphar was compelled to take his wife's 
word, rather than the word of a slave. 

Many people even now would say under 
such circumstances, that it was of no use 
to try to be good and serve God ; that either 
there was no God, or He did not take care 
of those who tried to serve Him. In Jo- 
seph's time it was harder to have faith in 



The Story of Joseph 29 

God than it is now, for people knew much 
less about Him. When we read of the won- 
derful visions of Abraham and others and 
the miracles that were worked, we some- 
times think it would have been very easy 
to believe in God in those times. But these 
visions came very seldom, and to but a few 
men. Other people might have their doubts 
about them, and think that the person who 
had had the vision had only had a dream. 
Generations went by without either vision 
or miracle, and they had to be remembered 
by being handed down from father to son. 
There was no printing, no cheap paper, so 
there were no books or newspapers. There 
was writing, but it was done by hand on 
wood or stone. It was slow, hard work, and 
very expensive. Ordinary people could 
neither read nor write. So God's dealings 
with the few people who loved Him could 
not be known as they would be now in our 
land, where almost everybody can read and 
books and papers are so very cheap. But 
had it all been known, there was very little 
to know compared with what we know since 



30 The Story of Joseph 

Jesus lived, taught us about God, died for 
us and rose again ; and since two thousand 
years have proved how true his teachings 
were. But Joseph had in his own heart the 
witness of God's Spirit that he was a child 
of God, and nothing can shake the faith 
of one who has that witness. He therefore 
never doubted for a moment that God was 
taking care of him, never wavered in his 
love and trust. In the prison, therefore, he 
was the same pleasant, cheerful, kind, con- 
scientious boy he had always been, and he 
soon won the confidence of the keeper of the 
prison, as he had won the confidence of 
Potiphar. Instead of keeping Joseph closely 
shut up, the keeper made him a sort of under 
officer, gave him some care of the prisoners, 
and left him at liberty to go around the 
prison. 

When Joseph had been in prison for some 
time, Pharaoh became angry with his butler, 
the servant who had charge of his wines and 
other drinks, and with his baker. What 
these poor men had done we do not know. 
Perhaps the baker had had sour bread, and 



The Story of Joseph 31 

the butler had not put sugar enough into 
his coffee. It does n't take much to arouse 
the anger of a despot. Whatever was the 
trouble, Pharaoh threw these two men into 
the same prison where Joseph was, and they, 
like the other prisoners, were under his 
charge. One morning when Joseph went 
into their cell, perhaps to take them their 
breakfast, he saw that the two men were 
looking more sorrowful than ever, as if they 
had some new trouble. In those days of 
cruelty people did not spend much pity on 
prisoners, and most jailers would n't have 
cared how sad their prisoners looked. But 
Joseph had a very kind and tender heart. 
Instead of thinking altogether of his own 
troubles, which were certainly heavy enough, 
his own troubles made him pity other people 
who were in trouble. He felt sorry for these 
men, and asked them what was the matter. 
They told him that each of them had had 
a strange dream, a dream which they be- 
lieved would tell them their fate, but there 
was no one who could interpret their 
dreams. Why Joseph thought he could un- 



3 2 The Story of Joseph 

derstand the meaning of the dreams we do 
not know, but he said to them that the inter- 
pretation of dreams was from God, and 
asked them what their dreams were. 

The butler said: "I dreamed that I was 
standing by a grapevine which had three 
branches. On these branches buds shot 
forth which grew to blossoms, then to 
grapes. I was holding Pharaoh's cup in my 
hand, and I took the grapes and pressed 
their juice into the cup, and then gave the 
cup to Pharaoh to drink." Joseph said to 
him: "This is the meaning of your dream. 
The three branches are three days. In three 
days Pharaoh will restore you to your place ; 
you shall be his butler again, and give him 
his cup to drink as you used to do. Now, 
when you are restored to your old position 
and have influence with Pharaoh, remember 
me. For the sake of the kindness I have 
shown you in prison speak a word for me 
to Pharaoh. For I have not done anything 
wrong ; there is no reason why I should be 
shut up here. I am a Hebrew who was 
stolen from my own country, and I am in 



The Story of Joseph 33 

prison because wicked people have accused 
me falsely/' 

When the chief baker heard the meaning 
of the butler's dream, he hoped that his 
dream, too, might be a good one, and he 
told it. "I dreamed," said he, "that I had 
three baskets on my head. In the top basket 
were all kinds of bread and cakes for Pha- 
raoh, and the birds came and ate them out 
of the basket." Joseph must have felt very 
sorry for the poor man, for this was what he 
had to tell him : "The three baskets are three 
days. In three days Pharaoh will hang you 
on a tree, and the birds will come and eat 
the flesh from your dead body." 

It all happened just as Joseph said. Three 
days from that time was Pharaoh's birth- 
day. He celebrated it by giving a great 
feast to his servants and by bestowing such 
favors or punishments as he saw fit. The 
chief butler he pardoned and restored to his 
old place, but the baker he hanged. 

When the butler left the prison, Joseph 
hoped that he would remember his promise 
and try to get Joseph out of prison, but he 
3 



34 The Story of Joseph 

did n't do it. Like other selfish people, he 
did n't care what other people had to suffer 
so long as he himself had all he wanted, and 
he forgot those who had been kind to him 
in his trouble. So Joseph staid in prison 
two years more. 



Pharaoh's Dreams 

Two years after the release of the butler, 
Pharaoh himself had two dreams in one 
night, which were so strange and made such 
an impression upon him that he felt they 
were not ordinary dreams. The first thing 
when he woke up in the morning he sent for 
all his wise men to come and tell him the 
meaning of his dreams. But when these 
men had heard the dreams, not one of them 
could tell him what they meant. Pharaoh 
was very much troubled, for he felt sure that 
the dreams foretold something of great im- 
portance. He was so disappointed and so 
anxious to find some one who could tell 
him the meaning of his dreams, that every- 
body heard of it. Now at last the butler 
"remembered Joseph." In all the time since 
his own release from prison he hadn't 
troubled himself to so much as "remember" 

35 



36 The Story of Joseph 

Joseph, still less had he made any effort to 
release from prison the man who had done 
all he could to lighten the suffering of his 
own imprisonment. Probably he never 
would have "remembered" him if he had n't 
had a selfish reason for doing so. He 
hadn't cared to bother Pharaoh with pe- 
titions for a poor, friendless prisoner. But 
now he remembered how Joseph had told 
the meaning of his and the baker's dreams, 
and he thought if he should tell the mean- 
ing of Pharaoh's, that Pharaoh would be 
pleased, not only with Joseph, but with him- 
self, the butler, and perhaps reward him as 
well as Joseph. He therefore went to Pha- 
raoh, and with many expressions of sorrow 
for his neglect of Joseph, told of Joseph's 
interpretation of the dreams of himself and 
the baker. 

Pharaoh was so anxious to have his dream 
interpreted, that he would have sent for any 
one who he thought could possibly inter- 
pret it. But he knew very well, as did every 
one else, that often people were thrown in 
prison only because a despotic master was 



The Story of Joseph 37 

angry with them. So Joseph's being a pris- 
oner did not prevent Pharaoh's sending for 
him. Pharaoh may also have made inquiries 
about his case, and have found that in all 
his life as a servant of Potiphar's and in 
prison he had shown himself trustworthy 
except in this one case, and then there was 
no proof, only his mistress's word, that he 
had committed the crime of which he was 
accused. Perhaps, too, in this time some- 
thing of his mistress's true character had 
become known. 

But we can only guess about these things. 
All that we know is that Pharaoh sent at 
once for Joseph. It would be very interest- 
ing to know whether Joseph knew why he 
was sent for, or not. He, like other people, 
may have heard about Pharaoh's dreams 
and the wise men's not being able to tell 
their meaning, and he may have suspected 
the truth. But whether he did or not, he 
must have been excited and anxious. It was 
a very trying thing for a prisoner to be thus 
suddenly called into the presence of the great 
and terrible Pharaoh, and to have such a 



38 The Story of Joseph 

demand made upon him. But Joseph 
proved the truth of the promise, "Thou wilt 
keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 
stayed on thee." When Pharaoh asked him 
if he could interpret the dreams, Joseph re- 
plied calmly and with perfect confidence, "I 
have no such power of myself, but God shall 
give Pharaoh an answer of peace/' 

Pharaoh told Joseph that he dreamed that 
he was standing on the bank of the river. 
He says the river, as if there were only one 
river, and to the Egyptians there was only 
one. The Nile is not only the only river of 
importance in Egypt, it is the only means 
by which most of Egypt gets water for the 
crops. In most of Egypt there is no rain 
at all, nowhere is there enough for raising- 
crops. Every summer the Nile, because of 
heavy rains and the melting of snow hun- 
dreds of miles away, overflows its banks and 
waters the country. The people also dig 
little canals and carry the water farther than 
it would go of itself. Besides watering the 
country, the river spreads out over the land 
rich earth which it has carried with it from 



The Story of Joseph 39 

its upper portions, so that the land in Egypt 
never has to have any other fertilizer. 
Without the Nile, Egypt would have been 
only a barren waste like the Desert of Sa- 
hara, of which it is a part. As it is, it is 
one of the most fertile countries in all the 
world. The Nile rises very regularly. It 
seldom fails, but occasionally it does not rise 
enough. Sometimes it rises too high. In 
either case there is more or less failure of 
the crops. So the Nile means to the Egyp- 
tians their crops and their food. It becomes 
very clear, therefore, why the cattle in Pha- 
raoh's dream "came up out of the river." 

"As I stood by the river," said Pharaoh, 
"behold seven kine came up out of the river, 
fine, fat cattle, and they fed in the meadow. 
But immediately after them came up seven 
other kine, poor, thin, and miserable. I 
never saw such wretched cattle in all the 
land of Egypt. And the lean cattle ate up 
the fat cattle, and when they had eaten them 
they did n't look as if they had had anything 
to eat, they were just as poor and miserable 
as they were before. Then I awoke. So I 



40 The Story of Joseph 

fell asleep again, and I had another dream. 
This time I dreamed that seven ears of corn 
came out on one stalk, seven fine, full ears. 
And immediately after them sprang up other 
seven ears, thin and blasted with the east 
wind, and the seven thin ears devoured the 
seven full ears. Then I awoke, and it 
startled me to find it was only a dream. It 
had seemed so real." 

How Joseph knew what the dreams meant 
we are not told. He seems to have seen 
their meaning as Pharaoh told them to him, 
and he said at once: "The two dreams are 
one; they mean the same thing. God has 
revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to 
do. He has doubled the dream because it 
is surely coming to pass, and that very soon. 
He wished that Pharaoh should be im- 
pressed just as he had been, so that he 
should find the meaning of the dreams, and 
be ready to do what should be done. The 
seven good cattle are seven years, and the 
seven good ears of corn are the same seven 
years. They are seven years of great plenty, 
seven years of very large crops. The seven 



The Story of Joseph 41 

poor cattle and the seven blasted ears of 
corn are another seven years, seven years 
of famine. Behold, there come seven years 
of great plenty in all the land of Egypt, in 
which the earth shall bring forth by hand- 
fuls. These shall be followed by seven years 
of terrible famine, when there shall be no 
crops, not even enough for seed. And as 
the seven thin cattle ate up the seven fat 
ones and were as thin and starved as ever, 
so the years of plenty shall be forgotten, 
because the years of famine shall devour all 
that the years of plenty produced." 

Joseph seems to have felt that he was the 
messenger of God to Pharaoh. He had told 
Pharaoh at first that through him God would 
interpret the dreams, and now he does what 
he would hardly have dared to do had he 
not believed he was giving Pharaoh a mes- 
sage from God. He tells Pharaoh what to 
do to provide against the terrible seven years 
of famine. Men of high position would 
have hesitated to advise Pharaoh what to 
do until they were asked for advice, much 
less a slave and a prisoner like Joseph. .But 



42 The Story of Joseph 

Joseph sees so clearly what ought to be done, 
and the terrible necessity of doing it quickly, 
that he does not hesitate. "Let Pharaoh," 
he said, "look out a wise, discreet man, and 
set him over all the land of Egypt, so that 
he can build storehouses and can appoint 
men who shall see to it that every year dur- 
ing the years of plenty every man shall bring 
into the storehouses one-fifth of all that he 
raises. Then when the years of famine 
come there will be food in the land, and the 
people and the cattle will not starve." 



Joseph, Ruler of the Land of 
Egypt 

Joseph's interpretation of the dreams was 
so reasonable that Pharaoh felt sure it was 
the right interpretation, and Joseph's plan 
for providing for the years of famine was 
so wise, that Pharaoh decided at once to 
adopt it. Nor did he have to think long 
to decide who was the best man to "set over 
all the land of Egypt." He said to his coun- 
selors, that if they hunted the country over, 
they would not find another man so well 
fitted to do this work as Joseph himself. 
Then he said to Joseph : "Forasmuch as God 
hath showed thee all this, there is none so 
wise and discreet as thou art : thou shalt be 
over my house, and according to thy word 
shall all my people be ruled; only in the 
throne will I be greater than thou." Then 

43 



44 The Story of Joseph 

Pharaoh put his signet ring on Joseph's 
hand. This ring gave Joseph the power of 
Pharaoh. All papers sent out by Pharaoh's 
command had a little melted wax dropped 
upon them. Into this wax, while it was still 
warm and soft, the signet ring was pressed. 
When the wax hardened it bore the print 
of the signet, and every one who saw it knew 
that it was ordered by Pharaoh. So Jo- 
seph's orders would be obeyed as Pharaoh's. 
The next thing Pharaoh did was to have 
a great procession, to let all the people see 
Joseph and know that he was the new prime 
minister. Joseph was dressed in rich and 
beautiful clothes, much finer than the coat 
his father had made for him; a gold chain 
was put about his neck, and he rode in what 
in those days was considered a very fine 
carriage, though we wouldn't think much 
of it now. It was called a chariot. Many 
of these chariots were handsomely orna- 
mented; but they were only two-wheeled 
carts and could not have been very com- 
fortable, however beautiful they may have 
been. Pharaoh rode in another chariot in 



The Story of Joseph 45 

front of Joseph, and runners went before 
shouting to the people to clear the way and 
to fall down and do homage to Pharaoh and 
his great minister. 

Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name, 
Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him for his 
wife a woman of high rank, a daughter of 
one of the priests. 

Joseph had now a great deal to do. He 
knew that the years of plenty were about 
to begin, and he must have the storehouses 
ready. He had to go over the land of Egypt, 
see where were the best places to build the 
storehouses, and decide how many there 
should be, and what should be their size. 
He must see to getting the material for 
them and securing workmen. He must find 
good men to oversee the building of the 
storehouses, and appoint others whom he 
could trust to see to it that every farmer 
brought in one-fifth of his crop each year. 
He did n't have time to go and see his father, 
even if he had thought it wise to do so, 
which for many reasons he did not. 

He built storehouses, one in each city, and 



46 The Story of Joseph 

had them ready when the first crop of the 
years of plenty was harvested. Then, year 
after year, the crops were abundant beyond 
anything that had ever been known. The 
people would surely have begun to think 
that they were always going to have such 
crops, had not the story been around that the 
new ruler had said that these wonderful 
crops would last only seven years and then 
be followed by seven years of famine, and 
that it was for this he was storing up grain. 
But, though the people must have known 
this, they did not lay by anything for the 
years of want, and when those years came 
they and their cattle must surely have 
starved to death, had it not been for the 
grain which they were obliged to bring into 
the storehouses each year. When the seven 
years of plenty ended, the great storehouses 
were full. And now began the years of 
famine. At the close of the first year the 
people came to Pharaoh with a pitiful story. 
They had not raised grain enough for their 
own families to eat, not enough even for 
seed for the next year's crop, and they 



The Story of Joseph 47 

begged him to sell them some from the 
storehouses. Pharaoh sent them to Joseph, 
saying that whatever he said should be done. 
Joseph opened the storehouses and began to 
sell grain to the people, taking their cattle 
as pay. But whenever there was a famine 
in Egypt, there was also a famine in the 
adjoining countries, and so it was now. The 
people in these other countries heard that 
there was grain in Egypt, and they also 
came and bought grain of Joseph. The 
famine extended even into Palestine, where 
Joseph's father and brothers lived, and in 
the second year of the famine Jacob said 
to his sons that he had heard there was 
grain in Egypt, and told them to go down 
and buy some. The ten oldest brothers set 
out, each with his ass and his sack. Jacob 
did not let Benjamin go, for Benjamin was 
the only son of Rachel's left, and now that 
Joseph was dead, as he supposed, he would 
not trust Benjamin out of his sight. 

When the brothers came into Egypt and 
asked for grain, they, like every one else, 
were sent to the great ruler, Zaphnath- 



48 The Story of Joseph 

paaneah. All who came into the pres- 
ence of one of these despots had to throw 
themselves at his feet. The moment that his 
brothers came before him Joseph knew them, 
and when he saw them prostrate at his feet 
he thought of his dreams about the sheaves 
of grain and the sun and moon and eleven 
stars, and he understood at last what those 
strange dreams meant. But, though Joseph 
knew his brothers, they did not see in this 
mighty ruler, dressed in the richest clothing 
and sitting in such state, the brother whom 
they had sold into Egypt. He was only 
seventeen years old when that happened. 
Now he was a man over thirty. And how- 
ever little he may have changed in his looks, 
they would never have thought of its being 
he, for they could not believe that he had 
risen from slavery to be the first ruler in 
this great land. Joseph's heart beat very 
fast when he saw his brothers, and he could 
hardly keep from speaking to them at once 
in his native language, and asking them 
about his father and his brother Benjamin. 
But Joseph had many times thought of send- 



The Story of Joseph 49 

ing messengers to his father to find if he 
was still alive, and of sending for him, if he 
were, to come into Egypt. But always he 
had given up the thought, feeling that this 
would not be safe unless his brothers had 
changed very much since he went away. 

So now, though Joseph could scarcely 
control himself, he made up his mind that 
he must test them before he could let them 
know who he was. If they were as bad as 
they were when they sold him, if they were 
jealous and envious of any one who they 
thought was in their way, if they still hated 
him as they did then, they would be ready to 
plot against him and get him into trouble, 
and a despot's court is a very good place 
for plots of this kind. So he did not show 
that he knew them, and pretended that he 
could not understand their language. An 
interpreter was therefore brought in, who 
repeated to Joseph in Egyptian all that his 
brothers said, and then repeated to the 
brothers in Hebrew what Joseph said in 
reply. Joseph must have had to make his 
plans very quickly. Probably he began with 
4 



50 The Story of Joseph 

only a general idea of what he was going to 
do, and made his plans as he went along. 
The thing he wanted to do was to find out 
how his brothers felt towards Benjamin, 
who he knew must have taken his place 
largely in his father's heart. But he could 
not find this out well unless Benjamin was 
there, so he set out to get Benjamin into 
Egypt. He pretended that he believed that 
his brothers were deceiving him, and said to 
them very harshly : " You have not come for 
grain ; that is all a pretense. You have come 
as spies from some hostile king to find out 
the poverty of the land, and whether it will 
be safe for him to come down and attack us 
in our distress." When the interpreter re- 
peated this to the brothers, they began to 
deny it very eagerly. "We are true men," 
they said. "We are no spies. The reason 
there are so many of us together is that we 
are all sons of one man. There were twelve 
of us, but one brother is dead and the other 
is young, and our father would not allow 
him to come for fear some harm would be- 
fall him." Then Joseph said: "I will give 



The Story of Joseph 51 

you a chance to prove the truth of what you 
have told me. Pick out one of your number, 
who shall go back and take grain to your 
families, and let him return bringing the 
youngest brother you talk of back with him. 
The rest of you I will keep in prison until 
he comes back. If he brings back this 
youngest brother, I will know that your 
story is true. If he does not, I shall know 
it is false, and that you are spies." 

So Joseph shut them all up in prison until 
they should decide which one of the brothers 
to send back. But the brothers would not 
choose one of their number, for they knew 
that their father would think that the Egyp- 
tian ruler only wanted to get all of them 
into his power, or possibly he would think 
it was a trick of the brothers themselves to 
get rid of Benjamin. In either case, he 
would not let Benjamin come down. After 
a little Joseph thought of this, too, and de- 
cided that he must change his plan, so he 
called them before him again and said: "I 
am a true man. I do not want to do you a 
wrong. Your story may be true, and if it is 



52 The Story of Joseph 

I do not want to bring suffering upon you 
and your families. So, instead of keeping 
nine of you in prison and sending back one, 
I will keep only one and let the others go 
back. And at any time that you will come 
back with the young brother you claim to 
have, I will set free the brother you have 
left behind. But do not come back again for 
grain or for anything else without that 
brother; for if you do, I shall know your 
whole story is false, and you shall not so 
much as see my face." Without doubt, 
many times during all these years since they 
had sold Joseph the brothers' consciences 
had troubled them, but they had never said 
anything about it to one another. But now, 
in their own great trouble, standing before 
this hard-hearted despot who would listen 
to no prayers for mercy, their guilty con- 
sciences reminded them of the time when 
Joseph had sobbed and begged in vain, and 
told them that they were being punished 
for their crime against their brother. So 
strongly did they feel this that they began 
to talk about it, acknowledging their wick- 



The Story of Joseph 53 

edness. Reuben alone felt that he was not 
to blame, and he said to them: "Did I not 
beg you not to sin against the child, and you 
would not listen to me? Now his blood is 
required/' Joseph heard them and under- 
stood all they said. It touched him deeply, 
and he had to go off by himself and weep. 
But when he came back he showed no sign 
of any softened feeling. He had Simeon 
put into prison, and then ordered that the 
sacks of the other brothers be filled with 
grain. He also secretly ordered his servants 
to put back into the mouths of the sacks the 
money which his brothers had paid for the 
grain. 

After the brothers had traveled some dis- 
tance on their homeward way, one of them 
opened his sack to feed his ass and found 
his money. All of them were very much 
frightened at this, for they were afraid it 
might get them into more trouble. 



Joseph Tests His Brothers 

When the brothers got home with their 
corn, Jacob was greatly distressed. At first 
he did not believe their story, but thought 
that they themselves had killed Simeon in 
a quarrel. What was more, he suspected 
them of plotting to get Benjamin away from 
him. This is shown by what he said to them 
when they told him what had happened. 
He cried out : "Me have ye bereaved of my 
children. Joseph is dead and Simeon is 
dead, and now you want to take Benjamin 
also.'' It is plain that, while he did not 
know just what had become of Joseph, he 
no longer believed that Joseph had been 
killed by a wild beast. He knew that the 
brothers had done something with him ; he 
supposed they had killed him. It is easy to 
see how he found out that Joseph had been 
gotten out of the way by his brothers. It 

54 



The Story of Joseph 55 

is impossible for ten people to tell a lie, and 
then be questioned about it over and over 
without being found out. Though the 
brothers had made up carefully the lie they 
were to tell their father, there were a multi- 
tude of little things that they did not think 
to arrange. Of course, Jacob in his distress 
would talk the matter over and over with 
different ones of them, and ask innumerable 
questions. Perhaps at one time he might 
ask just where and how they found the coat, 
how it was lying, and other particulars. 
The one with whom he was talking must 
make up his story on the spur of the mo- 
ment. Another time, possibly, he might ask 
some one else who first saw the coat. The 
brother who answered this would be almost 
sure to give some other particulars which 
would contradict something that the first 
brother had told. Such things would hap- 
pen, until very soon Jacob would become 
suspicious that they were not telling him 
the truth, and knowing the many other 
wicked things the brothers had done and 
their jealousy of Joseph, the horrible fear 



56 The Story of Joseph 

would come to him that they had killed 
Joseph. Then he would take pains to ques- 
tion them closely when they were apart, and 
without giving them a chance to talk with 
one another. A very few questions of this 
kind would make him feel sure that Joseph's 
brothers had made way with him. It was 
not strange, therefore, that he did not now 
believe their story about Simeon, and of the 
Egyptian ruler's having commanded them 
to bring Benjamin to him. Reuben, trying 
to convince him that they were not plotting 
against Benjamin, said: "You may kill my 
two sons if I do not bring him back in 
safety." But Jacob replied : "Benjamin shall 
not go down with you, for his brother is 
dead and he only is left of his mother; if 
mischief befall him by the way which ye 
go, then shall ye bring my gray hairs with 
sorrow to the grave." 

But the famine continued, and when they 
had eaten all the grain Jacob told his sons 
to go back to Egypt for more. But the 
brothers knew it was useless to go without 
Benjamin, and Judah said to him: "Father, 



The Story of Joseph §j 

it is of no use for us to go unless we take 
Benjamin, for the man told us that unless 
Benjamin was with us we should not so 
much as see his face." Then Jacob asked: 
"What did you tell the man that you had 
another brother for ?" They replied that the 
man had asked about their family, whether 
their father was alive, and whether they had 
other brothers. "How could we know," 
they asked, "that he would command us to 
bring our brother back with us?" Then 
Judah said : "Put the boy in my care and 
hold me responsible for him. We must have 
grain or we shall starve, and if we had not 
waited we might have been back by now." 
It made Jacob feel safer to have Joseph in 
the care of one brother who was pledged to 
bring him back. Besides, in the weeks that 
had passed since their return, he had ques- 
tioned them many times apart, and had 
come to believe that this time they were tell- 
ing him the truth, for in every particular 
they told the same story; they never contra 
dieted either themselves or one another. So, 
as they must have grain or die, he finally 



58 The Story of Joseph 

consented to let them take Benjamin. But 
he directed them to take back the money 
they had found in their sacks and other 
money also, and to take a present to the man 
of choice fruit, balm, spices, myrrh, nuts, 
and almonds, and he let them go with the 
prayer, "God Almighty give you mercy 
before the man, that he may release unto 
you your other brother and Benjamin." 

When the brothers reached Egypt they 
sent word to Joseph, or Zaphnath-paaneah, 
which was the name by which they knew 
him, that they had come for more grain, and 
had brought their youngest brother. When 
Joseph received their message, it was not 
easy for him to appear indifferent. At last, 
after all these years, he was to see his only 
own brother, whom he tenderly loved ; per- 
haps he would see his father and have his 
family with him again. In spite of their 
ill-treatment he had forgiven his half- 
brothers, and had even a feeling of affection 
for them. But he controlled himself, ex- 
cited as he must have been, and simply gave 
orders that the men should be taken to his 



The Story of Joseph 59 

own house and have their dinner there with 
him. Very great attention from a despot 
is often a dangerous honor, and the brothers, 
instead of being pleased, were frightened. 
They said to one another that perhaps they 
were to be called to account for the money 
which they had found in their sacks. When 
they entered the house, therefore, they went 
at once to the steward and offered him the 
money, explaining that they had found it 
in their sacks. But he refused to take it, 
saying that their God had put treasure in 
their sacks. 

When Joseph came in his brothers again 
threw themselves at his feet, and offered him 
the present they had brought. Joseph's 
heart was very full when he saw his brother 
Benjamin, and he was very anxious to know 
whether his father was well. But he asked 
them calmly about their father, and then 
turning to Benjamin, said: "Is this your 
youngest brother of whom ye spake to me ? 
God be gracious to thee, my son." Then 
he turned hastily and left the room, for he 
could no longer hold back his tears nor con- 



60 The Story of Joseph 

trol his desire to clasp Benjamin in his arms. 
When he had grown calm again, he washed 
his face and came back, and ordered dinner 
to be served. Egyptians would not eat with 
Hebrews, and so the brothers were seated 
at a table by themselves, and to their great 
astonishment they found that they were 
seated according to their ages. They could 
not understand how this Egyptian ruler 
could know their ages, for some of them 
were so nearly the same age that no one 
could tell by their looks which was the older. 
Joseph did not do this to make them won- 
der. It would be a proof that he was Joseph 
if he should tell them who he was, for no 
stranger could have known their ages. But 
his reason was to let his servants know their 
ages, for which he had a purpose as we 
shall soon see. 

When the meal was over Joseph had his 
brothers' sacks filled with grain, and he also 
directed his servants secretly to put into 
Benjamin's sack the beautiful silver cup that 
he himself used at his meals. Then he sent 
them away. Soon after the brothers had 



The Story of Joseph 61 

gone Joseph called some of his servants, 
and ordered them to hasten after the men 
and accuse them of having stolen his cup, 
and he directed them as to just what they 
were to do and say. The servants very soon 
overtook the brothers, and said to them: 
"Why have you returned evil for good? 
You have stolen our lord's cup that he 
drinks from, and in which he tells what is 
going to happen/' In those times it was 
commonly believed that some people had 
power to tell what was going to happen by 
pouring water into a silver cup and looking 
into it. Joseph was playing Egyptian, and, 
as he was already famed for having foretold 
the future, he pretended to his brothers that 
he used this cup for that purpose. The 
brothers were very indignant at being ac- 
cused of such a thing. They knew they 
were innocent, and were anxious to prove 
their innocence. So they said : "We brought 
back the money that we found in our sacks ; 
is it likely we would steal silver and gold 
from your lord's house? Search our sacks. 
If the cup is found with any of us, we will 



62 The Story of Joseph 

go back and become your master's slaves." 
The servants said that the one who had the 
cup should go back as a slave, but that the 
rest need not. Then they began their search, 
examining first the sack of the oldest and 
going on down to the youngest. We see 
now why they were seated at the table ac- 
cording to their ages, why Joseph wished 
the servants to know them. The sacks of 
the first ten were searched, and no cup 
found. But when Benjamin's sack was 
opened, there lay the cup in its mouth. The 
brothers could hardly believe their eyes ; but 
their grief was greater than their astonish- 
ment. A few minutes before they had been 
going on their way rejoicing that they were 
returning to their father with both Benja- 
min and Simeon safe. Now their joy was 
turned into deepest anguish. They knew 
that to go back without Benjamin would 
break their father's heart; that he would, 
as he had said, die of grief. Something 
during these years had softened their hearts 
and made their consciences more tender. 
Perhaps, as year after year they had seen 



The Story of Joseph 63 

their father's grief for Joseph, a grief from 
which he never recovered, as they had seen 
his form grow bent and his hair turn white, 
they had wished that they had not sold their 
brother. Certainly they were very much 
changed. How glad they would have been 
once of such a chance to get rid of Joseph 
as they now had of getting rid of Benjamin, 
and they had much the same reasons for 
being jealous of Benjamin that they had 
had for being jealous of Joseph. Had they 
been the same bad men they were when they 
sold Joseph, it would not have grieved them 
to leave Benjamin a slave in Egypt; they 
would rather have been glad of such a 
chance to get rid of him. But now they 
felt they would rather stay with him than 
go home without him. All of them there- 
fore went back, willing to take any risk for 
themselves in their efforts to free Benja- 
min. 



He Makes Himself Known 
to His Brothers 

When the brothers were brought before 
Joseph he was very much rejoiced, for it 
showed him that they were very much 
changed, and he began to feel sure that he 
could tell them who he was, and bring them 
and his father to live near him. But he was 
determined to fully test them. So he said 
to them, through an interpreter, remember: 
"What is this that you have done? Did 
you not know that such a man as I am would 
surely know what you had done?" The 
brothers did not believe that Benjamin had 
taken the cup. They knew he would not 
do such a thing. Besides, they knew how 
their own money had been returned to them 
on their first trip, and when their sacks were 
opened in searching for the cup they had 

64 



The Story of Joseph 65 

seen that their money had been returned 
the second time. They knew, therefore, that 
some one had put the cup into Benjamin's 
sack to get them into trouble. Very likely 
they suspected that it had been done by 
Joseph's order, for despots are never above 
doing such things. But they knew that no 
explanations or denials would be listened 
to; that if they attempted to make any, it 
would probably only make the ruler angry, 
and they would fare worse than if they kept 
still. So they only said: "What shall we 
say unto my lord ? The sin of thy servants 
has found them out. We have returned to 
bear our punishment and to be your slaves." 
To this Joseph replied: "O, no! I would 
not do such an unjust thing as to punish 
you all for the crime of one. None of the 
rest of you stole anything, though you had 
just as much chance as he had. All of you 
may go back and take grain to your fam- 
ilies except the one who stole the cup. He 
must stay and be my slave/' It was danger- 
ous to argue with a despot who had power 
to take the liberty and life of any one he 
5 



66 The Story of Joseph 

chose. Many a man who asked for another 
man's life to be spared only lost his own. 
Judah knew this; but he had promised his 
father to bring Benjamin back. He would 
stay as a slave himself ; he would die, if need 
be; but he would not go home without his 
brother, so he dared to beg this hard-hearted 
ruler, Zaphnath-paaneah, to listen to what 
he had to say. He began by reminding him 
of the first coming of the brothers ; of Zaph- 
nath-paaneah's accusations, of his demand 
that they should bring down their youngest 
brother as proof that their story was true. 
He told how, when his father had heard it, 
he had said that Benjamin should not come 
down, and that, even when their grain was 
gone and they must starve unless they could 
get more, Jacob had still refused to let Ben- 
jamin go until he, Judah, had promised that 
he would be responsible for him, and would 
not return without him. "Now," said 
Judah, "if I go back without the boy my 
father will die, and I shall have brought 
down his gray hairs with sorrow to the 
grave. I can not go back and see the an- 



u? c 



The Story of Joseph 67 

guish of my father. Now, therefore, I pray 
thee, let me stay and be your slave, and let 
the boy go back/' 

Joseph had found out what he wanted to 
know. He could trust his brothers. He 
could let them know who he was. He could 
see his father once more and have all his 
family about him. He turned to his Egyp- 
tian servants and said to them, "All of you 
leave ; I do not want a single one of you to 
stay." We can imagine how astonished the 
brothers were as they saw the servants all 
go away and leave them alone with the 
great ruler. Not even the interpreter re- 
mained. What could it mean? But they 
had only a few minutes to wonder, for the 
moment that the last servant was gone Jo- 
seph turned to them, and, speaking for the 
first time in their own language, said: "I 
am Joseph. Doth my father yet live?" 
Then he broke down weeping. At first his 
brothers were too astonished and frightened 
even to think. They neither moved nor 
spoke, but stood still and stared at one an- 
other until Joseph said, "Come near to me, 



68 The Story of Joseph 

I pray you." Then, without a word, they 
moved up around him. "I am Joseph, your 
brother, whom ye sold into Egypt/' he said, 
repeating each particular as if to assure 
them that it was surely he, for how could 
any one else know their lost brother's name 
and that they had sold him into Egypt? 
Then remembering their self-reproaches 
when they did not know that he understood 
what they were saying, and to assure them 
that he forgave them, he said : "Now be not 
grieved or angry with yourselves that you 
sold me here, for it was God's plan that I 
should come here and preserve life. For the 
famine already has lasted two years, and 
there will be yet five years more in which 
there shall be no harvest. God sent me here 
to save your lives and the lives of your chil- 
dren. So, now go back and tell my father 
all that you have seen of my power here in 
Egypt, and bring him and your families and 
your flocks and your herds down here, where 
I can take care of you during the years of 
famine." Then he turned to Benjamin and 
said : "You see it is my own mouth that is 



The Story of Joseph 69 

speaking. I am not talking through an in- 
terpreter. You can assure my father that 
I am really Joseph, and make haste and 
bring my father here." Then he took Ben- 
jamin in his arms and kissed him and wept 
on his shoulder, and kissed all of his 
brothers. After this he talked a long time 
with them, telling them all that had hap- 
pened to him after they sold him, and how 
he had risen from a poor slave to the man 
next in power to Pharaoh himself. 

When Pharaoh heard that Joseph's 
brothers had come he was very much 
pleased, and sent word to Joseph to have 
his brothers come and live in Goshen, the 
very choicest part of the land, and to tell 
them that they need not bring anything with 
them, for they could have anything that 
they wanted in the land. 

Joseph did not send his brothers away 
this time with just their sacks of grain. He 
gave them also wagons loaded with pro- 
visions and with presents for his father. He 
also gave each of them a change of cloth- 
ing, and to Benjamin he gave five changes 



70 The Story of Joseph 

of clothing and three hundred pieces of sil- 
ver. He still seems to have feared they 
might quarrel as they used to do when he 
was a boy, for, as they were leaving, he said 
to them, "See that ye fall not out by the 
way." 

Jacob had seen his sons go away with a 
heavy heart, and after they were gone he 
grew more and more anxious, and the days 
seemed to creep more and more slowly by. 
As the time came when he could begin to 
expect them home, we can see the old man 
sitting by the roadside or walking slowly 
back and forth, watching by the hour for 
some sign of their return. When he first 
caught sight of the wagons he could not 
have thought it was his sons, and when they 
came near enough for him to recognize them 
he did not know what to think of the wagons 
and asses that were with them. Perhaps he 
thought they had fallen in with a company 
of traders. Then how eagerly he tried to 
make out with his dim eyes whether Benja- 
min and Simeon were with them. When he 
saw that both were there he was overcome 



The Story of Joseph 71 

with joy. But now the brothers drew near, 
and as he greets them with a happy heart 
they say to him : "This is not all. Not only 
are Benjamin and Simeon here in safety, 
but Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over 
all the land of Egypt. He is the man who 
would not let us have more grain unless we 
brought Benjamin down. And now he has 
commanded that you and all our families 
come down into the land of Egypt and live 
near him, where he can take care of us/' 
At first Jacob could not believe their story, 
and they had to explain to him how Joseph 
came to be in Egypt by telling him the 
whole shameful story of how they had sold 
him, and then lied to him about it. Then 
they showed Jacob the beautiful presents 
Joseph had sent him and repeated his mes- 
sages, and Jacob doubted no longer, but 
said : "It is enough. Joseph my son is yet 
alive. I will go and see him before I die." 
As quickly as possible Jacob with his chil- 
dren and their families, seventy in all, got 
ready and started for Egypt. But Pales- 
tine, the land in which they were living, was 



j 2 The Story of Joseph 

the land which long years before God had 
promised Abraham, the grandfather of Ja- 
cob, should belong to his descendants. So, 
though Jacob was very anxious to go to 
Egypt and live near Joseph, after he had 
started he became troubled for fear he was 
doing wrong in leaving the land, and fearful 
that his children might thus lose the land 
altogether. So at a place called Beersheba 
he stopped and offered sacrifices to God, 
and that night he had a vision in which God 
told him not to fear, but to go on into Egypt 
to Joseph, for there God would make of him 
a great nation, and would surely lead the 
nation back into the promised land. 

When Joseph heard that his father was 
on his way he went with a great escort to 
meet him, and they fell into each other's 
arms and wept for joy. 

Pharaoh received them with honor. Ja- 
cob was presented to him, and instead of 
having to prostrate himself before Pharaoh, 
Pharaoh received the blessing of Jacob as 
from a priest. Some of the brothers were 
appointed to take care of Pharaoh's flocks 



The Story of Joseph 73 

and herds, and the whole family settled 
down within easy reach of Joseph. 

It is not always that those who trust God 
have their wrongs righted in this world, as 
Joseph did. But it is always safe to trust 
God, whatever the results may be here. 
Who would not rather be Paul who was be- 
headed, than the wicked emperor, Nero, who 
beheaded him? 

We must not, either, make the great mis- 
take of thinking that because God over- 
ruled the wickedness of Joseph's brothers, 
God wanted them to do what they did. God 
had enough ways of getting Joseph into 
Egypt and making him prime minister with- 
out any one 's committing a crime. God 
is not so helpless that it is necessary for 
people to do wicked things to help Him 
carry out His plans. We may always be 
sure, whenever we see the wickedness of 
men seeming to carry out God's plans, that 
it is only because He overruled their wicked- 
ness and that He had better ways of bring- 
ing about the same result. God rules the 
world not because of men's wickedness, but 
in spite of it. 



DEC 1 1904 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 




LlBRA RY OF CONGRESS 







